Loading machine



N. A. NEWDICK.

LOADING MACHINE,

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1919.

Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

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LOADING MACHINE. I APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1919.

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N. A. NEWDICK.

LOADING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1919.

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NORTON A. NEWDICK. 0F COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOB '10 JAMES ELLWOOD JONES, OF

SWITCHBACK, WEST VIRGINIA.

LOADING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18; 1922.

Application filed May 5, 1919. Serial No. 294,985.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORTON A. NEWDICK, a citizen of the United States, residing. at Columbus, inthe county of Franklin and Statev of Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Loading Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved loading machine adapted for use in mines for the purpose of conveying coal from its original" seam to a mine car, whereby the to be conveniently controlled when loading coal and also when in an inoperative osition to be readily transported from p ace to place within a mine.

Another objectof the invention resides in equipping the truck structure with ordinar rail engaging wheels which are rotatab yconnected with the drive motor of the structure so that when the machine is upon a trackway its propulsion through a mine may be easily effected, and to provide the truck gain its maximum efficiency, and to render.

said machine readily operative without the use of a traokway and under adverse working conditions.

A furtherlobject of the invention resides in the specific construction of the truck structure wherein'is provided a set of track engaging wheels, a co-operative caterpillar drivin mechanism, and a motor common for .drlving purposes to both the wheels and to the caterpillar mechanism, clutch means being provided for connecting the motor for driving purposes with both the wheels and said mechanism when one or the other is inactive operation, and to provide a controllmgstructure for shifting the caterpillar mechanlsm from its inactive to active positions, said latter structure being operated throughthe instrumentality of said motor. With these and other objects in view as will appear as the description proceeds, the

invention accordingly ments, and arrangement of parts hereinafter to be more fully described and having the scope thereof defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanyin drawings:

Figure 1 is a side e evation of a loading machine, showing the application of the improved truck structure comprising the present invention thereto, the caterpillar mechanism being shown in its active position.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the truck I structure,

Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof, and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 44 of Figure 2.

Similar characters of reference denote like and corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring more particularly to the details of the invention, the truck structurev A comprising the preferred form thereof is employed in this instance in connection with a coal loading machine 5, of the type disclosed in the co-pending application of James E. Jones, Norton A.-Newdick and William E. Moody bearing Serial Number 302,914 filed June 9, 1919. The machine 5 preferably consists of an elongated frame or body 6, which is provided with a depressed forward end or nose 7 an inclined. intermediate portion 8 and an elevated substantially horizontal rear or delivery end 9. This frame or body also carries an endless gathering structure 10, which is disposed to operate onplanes parallel to the portions 7, 8 and 9 and may be suitably driven. The nose 7 of the frame is, in practice, driven into engagement with a broken face of coal, so that the gathering structure maythen be placed in operation to gather and convey the coal to the delivery end 9, from which point it may be conveyed or discharged-into. a collecting-wmine car. Hitherto, it has been the common practice to mount the machinev 5 upon a truck provided with wheels disconsists in the novel features of constructlon, comblnation of ele- ,tion in relatively wide rooms or entries was somewhat limited to the arc of swinging movement of which the trackway formed a center Therefore, it is'one of the aims of the present invention to mount the machine j 5 upon a truck of 'suchconstruction as to en-- 13, disposed to operate over a trackway 14,

able the gathering mechanism 10 to have a relatively wide scope of action, to assume any desired angular position and in general to have a greater range of movement when engaged in the process of coal loading, and to combine these advantages with the usual wheel construction which enable the machine to bereadily transported.

To this end,- the truck structure A preferably consists of a frame 11, the latter being provided with the usual journal boxes in which are rotatably mounted the ends of a pair of axles. 12, these axles being provided with the usual fixed track engaging wheels said wheels serving in connection with the axles 12 to support the frame 11 in the usual manner. The frame 6 is, in turn,.piyotally connected with the structure A by means of a pedestal15, which has its lower ends'se cured to the substantially center portions of the frame 11* and is formed to provide a curved upper surface 16,the latter carrying guide -brakes 17 which are adapted to receive a similar member 18 depending rigidly from the under surface of said body. Through the use of this construction the frame 6 may be swung laterally with respect to its mounting or support, and also the weight of said framefi, owing to the central location "of the pedestal 15, will be equally distributed upon the axles 12, thus prevent- 7 mg excessive wear upon any certain part of 50 a the structure A.

The frame 11 is provided with a pair of fixed, parallel and transversely extending supporting bars 19, upon which is mounted in any suitable manner the driving motor'20 of thestructure. This motor is preferably of the reversible electrical type and has its.

shaft'provided with a pinion 21, which is pable of being shifted from active to inacm sses over the trackway '14, said shaft 24 is provided with a slidable clutch 27, which is keyed or otherwise slidably secured for rotation with said counter shaft. This clutch 27 is designed for engagement with a similar face 28 formed on a sprocket wheel 29, the latter being loosely mounted upon the shaft 24. The clutch 27 may be operated through the agency of a forked lever 30, which is pivotally mounted as at 31 upon one of the cross bars 26. The free end of the lever 30 is movably connected with a transversely extending actuating rod 32, the latter protruding outwardly to a point adjacent to the frame 6, whereby an operator by grasping the actuating extremity of the rod 32 may readily rock the lever 30 so as to shift the clutch 27 into or out of engagement with the clutch face 28 of the sprocket wheel 29, thereby controlling the rotation of said sprocket 29 with reference to the counter shaft 24. The rear axle 12is in this-instance provided with a fixed sprocket 33, over which an endless chain 34 is trained, said chain being disposed to also pass over the sprocket 29, whereby when the latter is in rotation movement will be positively imparted to the track wheels 13 so. as to effect the propulsion of the truck structure.

As before stated the structure A comprises means whereby the machine 5 may be operated without the use of the trackway 14, and to this end the same is formed to comprise a pair of caterpillars 35 which are cative positions or vice versa' to control the activities of said machine. In carrying out this idea, the ends of the axles 12 are equipped with eccentrics 36, which are loosely mounted upon said axles, and these ,105 eccentrics loosely carry sprocket members 37, over which endless chains 38 are trained, said chains being adapted to carry the usual flexible tread plates 39, whereby upon the rotation of the sprocket members movement will be imparted to said caterpillars as a whole. To govern the positions of the eccentrics 36, the latter are provided with gear segments 40, which are disposed to mesh with co operative worm gears 41 rotatably carried. upon the ends of shafts 42, these shafts being journaled within bearings 43 soas to extend substantially parallel with sides of the frame 11. The intermediate portions of the shafts 42 are provided with fixed worm gears 44, which mesh with cooperative screws 45 formed upon the ends disposed tonormally mesh with an enlarged of a transversely journaled shaft 46, the latsgur gear 23 fixed to a counter shaft 24, this aft being mounted for rotation within suitable bearings 25 carried by cross bars 26 which, in turn, are connected with the par allel bars 19.

To couple the motor 20 with the wheels 13, so that the machine 5 may be operated ter being rotatably mounted within bearings 47 mounted upon the side frames 11. Rotation is imparted at predetermined periods to the shaft 46 through the medium of the mo- .the clutch 48 is properly shifted and motion of the counter shaft 24 will be transmitted to the shaft 46, which in turn being geared to the eccentrics 36 will cause the latter to be operated to position their associated sprocket members 37 either in elevated or lowered positions. When in a lowered position, the caterpillar mechanism 35 will engage with the floorof a mine so as to support the weight of the rear end of the machine 5, and by doing so will eliminate the use of the trackway 14, and when revolved to assume an elevated position, said mechanism 35 will be positioned to permit the loader to be transported aboutvthe mine in the usual manner.

Power is imparted to the sprocket members 37 by providing the rear pair of the latter with connected sprocket elements 53, which are disposed to rotate in unison with said members 37 and are also mounted upon the eccentrics 36. Chains 54 are trained over the elements 53 and over similar sprockets 55 rigidly carried upon the ends of a shaft 56, the latter being disposed to extend below and parallel with the counter shaft 24 and is mounted for rotation within bearings rovided in the sides of the frame 11. 'Fhis shaft 56 is provided with an enlarged spur gear 57 which is disposed to mesh with an appreciably smaller pinion 58 loosel mounted upon one end of the counter sha 24. This pinion 58 is provided with a clutch face disposed for interlocking engagement with a similar face provided on a sliding clutch sleeve 59. the latter being keyed to the end of the shaft 24, and is operated through the agency of a plurality of pivoted manually controlled levers 60. By clutching the pinion 58 in connection with the counter shaft 24, motion will be imparted to the sprockets and thence to the elements 53 which through their connection with the members 37 will effect the operation of the caterpillar mechanism 35 in its entirety.

From the fore oing description taken in connection with t e accompanying drawings, it will be seen that there is provided improved mechanism for rendering a loading machine readily operative under existing mine conditions. Through the use of the caterpillar mechanism on the structure A the loading machine eliminates to a large extent the use of considerable trackage but when inoperative the same will not interfere with the rapid transportation of the machine from point ,to point, which object could not be obtained through the sole use of the caterpillar mechanism as a pro- Again, the mechanism 35.

pelling agent. serves to force the forward or nose end 7 of the machine into engagement with the coal pile and maintains this close engagement at all times and owing to its broad tractive grip the samewill prevent the machine when under operating conditions from forcing itself away from the coal face. In other words, the caterpillar construction enables the nose end of the machine to be constantly buried under the broken down coal in order that the gatheringimechanism may operate with its utmost e ciency. In summary, it will be apparent that an improved truck structure for a loading ma chine has been provided embodying ordinary track wheels .for use in runmng around a mine and. with a co-operative caterpillar drive operable to be thrown into active service when the machine is actively engaged in loading operations. It will of course be apparent that the motor 20 is reversible in order that means may be rovided for. driving the wheels of a truck either forwardly or backwardly.

What I claim is: Y

1. A truck comprising a frame, wheeled axles rotatably j ournaled in connection with said frame, eccentric members loosely carried upon the outer ends of said axles, a chain drive construction loosely mounted upon said eccentric members, means for shifting said members from inactive to active positions to transfer the function of propelling and supporting said truck from the wheels of said axles to saidchain elements, and means for selectively rotating said axles or said chain elements.

. 2. A truck comprisin a frame, wheeled axles rotatably journale within said frame, a motor carried by said frame, clutch means for transmitting the power of said motor to one of said axles to effect the propulsion of said truck over atrackway, means for propolling and supporting said truck independ: ently of said wheels, comprising a plurality ofeccentric members loosely mounted upon the ends of said axles, sprocket members rotatably carried in connection with said eccentric members. a pair of fiexibledriving elements loosely mounted upon said s rocket members, means operated from sai motor to rotate said eccentric members to active positions whereby said elements will receive the weight of said truck structure, and clutch means for transmitti-n the power of said motor to said chain e ements to effect the propulsion of said structure when said elements assume active positions.

3. A truck structure comprising a frame, wheeled axles rotatably journaled in connection with said frame, a inotor carried by said frame, clutch means between said motor and one of said axles, eccentric members loosely mounted upon the ends of said axles,

sprockets loosely mounted upon said eccen trio members, driving chain elements trained eccentric members, a worm gearing drivenby said motor and meshing with said segments to oscillate said eccentric members from inactive'to active positions, whereby the propulsion and support of said structure amazes ma .be obtained either throughithe use of sai wheels or said elements.

4. A car embodying therein wheels formed for rail travel; a power plant carried by the car; an elongated -endless traction device adapted to travel on the ground; means for moving said elongated endless-traction device downward relative to the wheels of the car; means for driving said wheels in either direction from the said power plant; and

means for drivin said elongated traction de- 1 Vice in either irection from said power plant; said wheels being operable independcut of said elongated endless traction device. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' NORTON A. NEWDICK. 

